Gelatin and Other Food Ingredients (Follow Up: Alcohol in Ingredients)
Question:
Assalamualaikum,
Alcohol is prohibited. There is a great deal of confusion with regard to alcohol in vanilla extract and natural flavours. Many people quote the prophet's (pbuh) Hadith that any thing haram in large quantity would be haram in small quantities too. some argue that the alcohol in flavors is in small amounts and it loses it's effect in the food (its not the same as mixing let's say wine or brandy while cooking). Yet there have been at least 2 cases of intoxication by vanilla extract.
But "natural flavors" are found practically in everything we buy off the supermarket shelves, so this would mean that we limit ourselves to fruits / vegetables / meat only and children would ofcourse find our religion to difficult to practice. What is your opinion?
Answer:
Assalamu Alaykum,
Let us first understand and appreciate the directive of the Qur'an and then derive some principles from it:
The verse of the Qur'an says:
يا أَيُّهَا الَّذينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَ الْمَيْسِرُ وَ الْأَنْصابُ وَ الْأَزْلامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُون
Believers! This liquor and gambling and stone altars and these divining arrows are all dirty handiworks of Satan. So avoid them that you may succeed. (5:90)
يَأَيهُّا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَا تَقْرَبُواْ الصَّلَوةَ وَ أَنتُمْ سُكَارَى حَتىَ تَعْلَمُواْ مَا تَقُولُون ...
Believers! [Prayer is the greatest manifestation of the directive of worshipping God given earlier; so] do not approach your prayers when you are drunk,10 till you know what you say ... (4:43)
What we understand from the above is that due to its intoxicating effect we have to keep away from drinking alcohol (1), and to be fully obedient to this directive we should avoid it no matter how small its amount might be. This is also inline with the Hadith narrated from the Prophet (pbuh) that says what intoxicates in large quantity is Haram even in small quantity (Tirmizi, 1865).
The above is the principle. I now try to categorize some of the products we have in the market based on the above principle:
a. when alcohol is added as an ingredient in a way that it maintains its intoxicating feature (no matter how small the amount might be)
Obviously this is forbidden.
b. when alcohol is added as an ingredient in a way that it loses it intoxicating feature (for example when the food is heated enough or when the amount of alcohol is so insignificant that when it is mixed with other ingredients it loses its intoxicating feature, technically this is called Istihlak)
Obviously this is permissible.
Note: If alcohol is added as an ingredient and we are not sure whether its intoxicating feature is lost or not then the product is not permissible.
c. when the ingredients go into natural fermentation process in a manipulated an enhanced manner, resulting in or aiming to produce substances that have intoxicating feature
Obviously this is forbidden (no matter how small the amount of the intoxicating substance is).
d. when the ingredients go into natural fermentation process, however no intoxicating effects are aimed or expected as the result.
This is permissible.
Many foods belong to the above category. Strictly speaking from scientific point of view, it may even be that intoxicating substance may resulted from this procedure. However in this category the intoxicating feature is so light that it effectively perishes as the result of getting assimilated with other substances.
Note: When we know that ingredients are gone through natural fermentation but we do not have any evidences indicating the possibility of producing substances with sustained intoxicating feature then this will be counted as category 'd' above and therefore permissible. If however there are indications that point to the possibility of producing substances with sustained intoxicating feature then it is closer to cautious and piety to consider this as category 'c' above and therefore avoiding it.
I should really stop here since applying the above to different cases is the responsibility of individuals who would judge based on the information they trust. However, in a hope that I may make myself more useful, I add that according to my information, vanilla extract that is produced with the use of alcohol is in category 'a' above and therefore needs to be avoided, while 'natural flavors' is in the category 'd' above and therefore permissible. As I wrote, this is based on the information that was available to me.
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Footnote:
1. This means other uses of alcohol (i.e. other than drinking) is not prohibited
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Related topics:
- Gelatin and Other Food Ingredients
-----------
June 2013
Assalamualaikum,
Alcohol is prohibited. There is a great deal of confusion with regard to alcohol in vanilla extract and natural flavours. Many people quote the prophet's (pbuh) Hadith that any thing haram in large quantity would be haram in small quantities too. some argue that the alcohol in flavors is in small amounts and it loses it's effect in the food (its not the same as mixing let's say wine or brandy while cooking). Yet there have been at least 2 cases of intoxication by vanilla extract.
But "natural flavors" are found practically in everything we buy off the supermarket shelves, so this would mean that we limit ourselves to fruits / vegetables / meat only and children would ofcourse find our religion to difficult to practice. What is your opinion?
Answer:
Assalamu Alaykum,
Let us first understand and appreciate the directive of the Qur'an and then derive some principles from it:
The verse of the Qur'an says:
يا أَيُّهَا الَّذينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَ الْمَيْسِرُ وَ الْأَنْصابُ وَ الْأَزْلامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُون
Believers! This liquor and gambling and stone altars and these divining arrows are all dirty handiworks of Satan. So avoid them that you may succeed. (5:90)
يَأَيهُّا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَا تَقْرَبُواْ الصَّلَوةَ وَ أَنتُمْ سُكَارَى حَتىَ تَعْلَمُواْ مَا تَقُولُون ...
Believers! [Prayer is the greatest manifestation of the directive of worshipping God given earlier; so] do not approach your prayers when you are drunk,10 till you know what you say ... (4:43)
What we understand from the above is that due to its intoxicating effect we have to keep away from drinking alcohol (1), and to be fully obedient to this directive we should avoid it no matter how small its amount might be. This is also inline with the Hadith narrated from the Prophet (pbuh) that says what intoxicates in large quantity is Haram even in small quantity (Tirmizi, 1865).
The above is the principle. I now try to categorize some of the products we have in the market based on the above principle:
a. when alcohol is added as an ingredient in a way that it maintains its intoxicating feature (no matter how small the amount might be)
Obviously this is forbidden.
b. when alcohol is added as an ingredient in a way that it loses it intoxicating feature (for example when the food is heated enough or when the amount of alcohol is so insignificant that when it is mixed with other ingredients it loses its intoxicating feature, technically this is called Istihlak)
Obviously this is permissible.
Note: If alcohol is added as an ingredient and we are not sure whether its intoxicating feature is lost or not then the product is not permissible.
c. when the ingredients go into natural fermentation process in a manipulated an enhanced manner, resulting in or aiming to produce substances that have intoxicating feature
Obviously this is forbidden (no matter how small the amount of the intoxicating substance is).
d. when the ingredients go into natural fermentation process, however no intoxicating effects are aimed or expected as the result.
This is permissible.
Many foods belong to the above category. Strictly speaking from scientific point of view, it may even be that intoxicating substance may resulted from this procedure. However in this category the intoxicating feature is so light that it effectively perishes as the result of getting assimilated with other substances.
Note: When we know that ingredients are gone through natural fermentation but we do not have any evidences indicating the possibility of producing substances with sustained intoxicating feature then this will be counted as category 'd' above and therefore permissible. If however there are indications that point to the possibility of producing substances with sustained intoxicating feature then it is closer to cautious and piety to consider this as category 'c' above and therefore avoiding it.
I should really stop here since applying the above to different cases is the responsibility of individuals who would judge based on the information they trust. However, in a hope that I may make myself more useful, I add that according to my information, vanilla extract that is produced with the use of alcohol is in category 'a' above and therefore needs to be avoided, while 'natural flavors' is in the category 'd' above and therefore permissible. As I wrote, this is based on the information that was available to me.
---------
Footnote:
1. This means other uses of alcohol (i.e. other than drinking) is not prohibited
----------
Related topics:
- Gelatin and Other Food Ingredients
-----------
June 2013
